Firefox has been falling in marketshare for a number of years now, mostly due to increased competition from Google Chrome. Over the past year or so, Mozilla has been working on a number of massive fundamental changes to Firefox to make it faster and better than ever, and version 57 is the culmination of these efforts. The update was finally released today across all platforms, including Android.

The main attraction, at least on Android, is the new Photon UI. The old gray and orange design is gone, replaced by a more minimalist white design with blue highlights. I would have preferred a bit more color, but I still think Mozilla did a good job with the design.

Firefox 56

Firefox 57

Mozilla has been hyping up Firefox Quantum's speed improvements, but unfortunately, not all of the enhancements have made it to Android. One of the major new features, the new Quantum CSS renderer, has not arrived to the mobile browser yet (it's currently slated for Firefox 59). Still, there are a few performance improvements in this release.

Just like with Firefox 57 on the desktop, support for 'legacy' browser extensions has been dropped. Mozilla introduced the new 'WebExtensions' API with Firefox v48, and extension developers have been moving to the new standard in preparation of Firefox 57. There are still a few holdouts that haven't been ported yet, but most of the popular extensions have made the jump.

Google added 'Custom Tabs' to Chrome back in 2015, allowing apps to open pages in Chrome without actually opening the full Chrome application. The feature has been implemented by a large amount of Android apps, but it only worked if Chrome was your main browser. Starting with this release, Firefox on Android has its own implementation of Custom Tabs.

Left: Chrome Custom Tabs; Right: Firefox Custom Tabs

If you have Firefox set as your default browser, some apps will open a Firefox Custom Tab when you tap on links. I say "some," because it doesn't seem to work for all apps, even ones that have implemented Chrome Custom Tabs. For example, links opened from Slack worked, but not ones from my Google Feed. I'm not sure if app developers have to implement Firefox's version separately or not, but it's definitely a nice addition regardless.

Comments

duke1

It's about time!

Zeek

I've been waiting so long for this!

MJ

Firefox Quantum and the Photon UI is great on the desktop (been using since the 57.0beta) so kudos to Mozilla and so far also good on mobile. I have been using Firefox as my main browser since before version 1.0 on Windows and since it's been available on Android and Linux. Firefox being open sourced is a plus for me but no one else makes a viable option. I prefer to use a cross-platform browser and Chrome would work but is a no go on mobile with no add-on support (ad-blocker is a must). Edge of course only works on Windows 10.

mma173

I thought all old Firefox users did not like the new one. Do not you miss the customization options? I have been using Firefox from Ver. 1 as well, and I like having the addon bar and the ability to move favorites bar to the top. I don't like a Chrome-like GUI where everything is crammed in one toolbar.

MJ

No, just the ones who whine endlessly... I like being able to see everything in one place. I think the Photon UI really uses the space well. Mozilla should give people the option to move things around more and there is no reason not to allow it.

I probably give Firefox to much slack because it's open source and is the only thing that works on Windows, Linux, and Android for me.

Does stutter as much, but still hitches and feels like the refresh rate is lower.

sluflyer06

Might be your potato computer, I compared side by side at home on my i7-4790k at 4.7ghz and FF was at least as smooth, no hitching or anything. Quantum is designed for modern computers that can take advantage of multiple threads.

The screenshots in the post are from the Beta version, since they look identical, but the status bar is actually the same white color now: https://i.imgur.com/xXQbLOb.png

Lord Argyris

I stand happily corrected.

Stu

Just tried this out. First site I went to wouldn't render properly. Second worked but scrolling was janky. Tried to go to AP after and it started to hang halfway through loading. So back to Chrome I guess.

MJ

...or figure out what's wrong with your system.

InsideMyBox

If firefox isn't working for you, use Brave. It's Chromium with adblocking and https everywhere lists. Using vanilla Chrome should be a last resort.You'll never get the same speeds with Chrome when 50% of a website is tracking and ads.

Lon Grove

Thanks for the heads-up on Brave. It's just what I've been wanting. Do you know if there is a way to import Chrome bookmarks and passwords?

That's what I want to know to (somehow syncing chrome bookmarks with Brave).

So far I manage to sync my Chrome bookmarks with my Firefox Browser.

Johnny Doe

On desktop when I installed it, it had a pop-up that asked if I want to import bookmarks and I just clicked chrome. If that doesn't work I'm sure you can export bookmarks on an HTML file from chrome then import it on Brave.

Marcelo

I've tried it a long time ago. I will never again. That is because I wouldn't support a browser developed by thieves.

Ad blocking is or not ok depending from who gonna answer (common user x companies built to live by serving ads). But I think everybody won't approve anything that works like a mafia mob: a browser that strips all the ads and replace them with its own and says it's best for everyone that way. Mafia like a business man that runs a store, which is visited and warned: " We gonna do a service for you protecting your business and let it running smoothly... And you just need to give a payment for this job. So it is good for you because you will work fearless under our protection, police can take a rest with us doing the job , and we gain some money for making everyone happy "

So no, thank you, I won't support thieves.

piratenpanda

ad blocking is a must in times of malware, but well.. to each their own. I rather support creators i like than have a security leak on other pages.

This combined with uBlock + HTTPS Everywhere may end up being the best browser on Android.

aRvInD

Yeah one thing I miss is Dark/Black theme. All white theme is pretty hard on eyes...

SupahNin10doh

Idk, brave browser is pretty great.

Abhishek Mudgal

Naah... Used that ... Didn't like it compared to quantum... Been over a month using quantum

_jack_

Swiping down the address bar for opening all tabs or left and right for switching is really, really great in Chrome and Brave. In Firefox ,that's still really bad imho. I agree that add-ons, especially uBlock are really useful.

Gordon Spurgeon Spooner

I'm in the same situation. Brave is the best "out of the box" experience, on both desktop and mobile.

I've been using Nightly on Android for a while, now--and it's still the slowest damn thing since molasses. Maybe it has something to do with uBlock Origin. Maybe it doesn't. Maybe Firefox for Android is just damned to be slow forever.

Nathan J

That's funny, an article by AP on Firefox. You guys, or Disqus, are blocking Firefox users from commenting. I've tried it on three different machines. With Chrome, I can type in the text field. With Firefox, I cannot. It's most likely a Disqus thing, to be sure, since it's their commenting software. Funny thing is, in my Chrome, I have Stylish installed. I have a skin on AP that makes it Material Dark. It's really slick. Doesn't interfere with commenting at all, though.

We're definitely not blocking Firefox users from commenting. I've actually run into that bug on Chrome for Android from time to time, and clearing cache usually fixes it.

Nathan J

That worked! Thanks! Now I can use Firefox... a lot more.

I've gone from using Chrome exclusively, to using Chrome, Firefox, and Edge in different scenarios. I prefer Firefox Quantum now for the most part, but there are still some kinks to work out.

I was pretty sure you guys weren't actively blocking Firefox, but Disqus has been real screwy lately. Even in Chrome, if I move the mouse away from the text input box, I can't type until I move it back.

To clear cache, if anyone wants to do that, you open a new tab, type "about:cache" into the address bar without the quotes, and hit enter. It'll give you the 2 locations it's at on your disk. Copy the location from "C:" (or whatever drive letter) to "cache2", then CTRL+C to copy. Win+R to open Run, CTRL+V to paste, Enter to go there. Back up one level. Highlight both Cache2 and OfflineCache (the other one). Close Firefox. Shift+Delete to bypass the Recycle Bin and delete them straight away.

Never had an issue commenting on Chrome for either Android or iOS (or Safari for iOS, which is WebKit like Chrome used to be). I meant Firefox on PC. I have Firefox on iOS (no extensions for us... boo! but par for the course), haven't tried it yet.

Chrome Dev (bookmarks sync and because I like to test the newest features Google has to offer)

Firefox Quantum is not bad from what I've seen so far, but it's nowhere near as smooth (scrolling) as those two browsers

mizrulez

The one thing stopping me from moving to Firefox as my default browser, is seamless page translation that Chrome has. I haven't found an add-on that can translate a full page automatically, and since I visit different foreign language forums, this is a deal breaker for me.

Vratislav Jindra

I honestly don't understand why do many people use Firefox nowadays. It uses the same webkit engine as Chrome. And the whole development of Firefox browser is financed by Google nowadays. Once Google decides to cut the financing, Firefox will die slowly.

David Williams

I think you're confusing Firefox with Opera.

Opera uses the Blink engine, just like Chrome - Firefox uses its own engine.

W1bble

Mozilla does use Chrome stuff in a couple of places: Firefox for iOS and that minimalist browser they released a while back for Android.

As for Google funding Mozilla I believe that deal came to an end a few years ago.

Ravi

Google changed it mind.. Wants to fund Mozilla again

Michael Goff

Firefox doesn't use Chrome on iOS. Nobody uses Chrome on iOS. They use Webkit, which isn't what Chrome uses.

Easy mistake. Chrome used to use Webkit, but decided to fork it when they deemed progress too slow. I think Chrome uses Blink?

W1bble

Yeah, that sounds about right. Thanks for the correction :)

David Onter

You're confusing things. Firefox, unlike Samsung Browser, Brave, Opera or Vivaldi doesn't use Chrome's Blink engine. It has its own engine called Gecko, and the
Firefox Quantum project is working on modernizing this engine, mostly by
borrowing parts which are ready from Mozillas' research browser engine
called Servo.

The Mozilla Foundation is funded by donations and search royalties, which come from different companies such as Yandex, Baidu and up until now, Yahoo. Only with the release of Firefox Quantum, Mozilla is changing to Google as the default search engine in some parts of the world, like they used to have it years ago, so they will receive some money from Google for those countries.

As for why people would use Firefox, there are many reasons. Being able to install adblock on mobile, because it is open-source, because it is more customizable than Chrome or for privacy reasons, as it is not part of the Google botnet.

Total Insecurity & Henny Roggy

This version comes still not even remotely close to Google Chrome's phenomenal performance and intuitiveness on Android! Waiting for Firefox 59 now.

That ugly logo though. I think it actually looks worse than Chrome's "new" emblem. And now the graphical interface looks the same as Chrome too. Why does this (formerly great) now-spineless company even bother anymore?

In Firefox for Android (including Firefox Focus), that address is autocompleted in the address bar, as if I had ever visited it (I have never visited it).

I have checked my settings in Firefox on the PC, old sessions, and I can not find anything. I have deleted the cookies (PC and mobile), and nothing, that address persists. And it only happens in Firefox, because in my other browsers everything is perfect (Chrome, Chrome Beta, Opera Beta, Samsung Internet Beta).

Been using Chrome on desktop and mobile now for years but I've been wanting to shift away from Chrome because it's too minimalistic, uses too much memory and doesn't have the flexibility like Firefox does.

So far from what I've tried of Firefox on my PC, it's much faster than what I remember it and in some cases it's faster than chrome, in others slower but overall they perform similar to each other, memory usage when having many tabs open is a big improvement over Chrome as it doesn't load them all up, just the ones you click on which is a big advantage, also, it seems to display web pages just as well as Chrome does on all the sites I've tested on it, so yep, Firefox have converted me over on the desktop, will have to try the mobile one and see how that does but I think I'll wait till version 59 when they put in all the performance improvements.

Vivek Rameses

Nothing better than Firefox. I wish chrome wasn't forcibly installed on every device. It's the first app I disable.

Won't switch to firefox from opera until it supports double tap to zoom 100% and again double tap to fit the page to screen. Without this function browsing on non responsive website is very annoying on the phone.